April Thomas, 206.321.3850, april.thomas@sierraclub.
Houston, Texas -- The #ITCFire seems to have resumed just minutes ago, with local reporter Levi Ismail documenting a new plume of black smoke above the facility on social media. Earlier today a containment wall surrounding the #ITCDisaster petrochemical site was breached, releasing at least 15 tanks containing an estimated 20,000 gallons of water contaminated with dangerous PFAS fire fighting foam and petrochemicals into the Houston Ship Channel and further endangering the community surrounding it. According to live coverage from Click2Houston, local authorities have confirmed that two tanks have reignited.
The fire began at the Intercontinental Terminal Company tank farm over the weekend and burned through Thursday, causing a massive black plume of toxic emissions over Houston. The Aqueous Fire Fighting foam (AFFF) used to combat the fire, itself highly toxic, began leaking into the Ship Channel on Thursday, prompting concerns about contamination of not only the Ship Channel but also Galveston Bay. Around noon CST on Friday, the containment wall holding back the foam and other chemicals released during the fire was breached. The Ship Channel is currently closed to traffic and experts analyzing the situation live on KHOU have indicated there was a “deluge” of petrochemical toxics into the Ship Channel, including an estimated 15 tanks of PFAS foam. See Sierra Club’s recommendations here.
“We are living through yet another ongoing disaster that continues to grow worse with every passing hour,” said Bryan Parras, Gulf Coast Organizer with Sierra Club Dirty Fuels. “ITC is fully responsible for developing a safety plan to prevent fires and contain the contaminated water during emergencies. Clearly they’ve completely failed us in every regard. We now hear that 20,000 gallons of contaminated water are heading toward the Ship Channel, and the fire has resumed. Deer Park residents will be living with the health and safety impacts of the plume of pollution from the fire itself for decades. What else has to happen before our local elected officials will act appropriately to protect our health, our community, and our clean water? What other sacrifices will we be asked to make for the profit of the petrochemical industry? When will this nightmare end?”
“Emergency responders need to take every available action to prevent this toxic water from reaching the Ship Channel and Bay,” said Sonya Lunder, Senior Toxics Policy Advisor for Sierra Club’s Gender, Equity & Environment Program. “PFAS chemicals are toxic at incredibly low levels, and persist indefinitely in the environment. The fire fighting chemicals already used could pollute the waterways for decades, with more pollution to come if the fire has indeed begun again. The emergency response to this ongoing disaster is completely inadequate.”
Communities in Houston are organizing an emergency response to the ongoing Deer Park fire. A coalition of community and environmental organizations are holding a series of town hall meetings to document the impact of the petrochemical disaster on public health and safety and demand full accountability for any fallout from this disaster.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.